A dehumidifier is crucial for homes with high humidity levels, as it removes moisture from the air and helps prevent mold growth.
If you choose the most suitable dehumidifier, your windows will stop fogging, and you will eliminate bad odors and breathe better. It often happens to let life go by without realizing that you have a problem. The humidity level in your room should be 40-50% in the summer.
And, in winter, 30-50%. If your percentages don’t even come close to these, hurry up and buy a dehumidifier. But not before reading this guide, which will help you choose the correct model.
Here we had selected some fo the best dehumidifiers that are given below.
Everything You Need to Know About Dehumidifiers
You know you need a dehumidifier, but don’t you want to risk investing in a model that will prove ineffective? We understand you, and it’s not an easy decision.
To help you, we have prepared this purchase guide that will allow you to get to know these devices better and to have answers to the most frequently asked questions.
What Is a Dehumidifier?
Don’t be ashamed, and you’re not the only one who has never heard of this magical device. A dehumidifier is an appliance that captures the excess humidity of an environment.
The most common ones cool the air and condense it. The water resulting from this process is collected in a tank that must be periodically emptied. Then, the dry air that remains in the device passes through a hot area and comes out again, cleaner.
Since humidity has an impact on temperature, a good dehumidifier allows you to feel less hot in summer. And on the other hand, less cold in the winter. It is a relatively simple and effective solution.
How Do I Know if I Need a Dehumidifier?
When your home or work environment has the following characteristics, it is clamouring for help from a dehumidifier. Take note.
- Your environment gives off a stale (musty) smell.
- When you hang laundry after washing, it takes a long time to dry.
- You, or other people who share the environment, suffer from mould or dust exposure allergies.
- Food that you keep out of the refrigerator spoils faster than usual.
- Your windows are always misted.
- There are mould spots or cracks in the walls.
What Types of Dehumidifiers Are There?
It sounds complex, but it’s simpler than you think. Thanks to the following information, you will be able to understand which will work best in your home or office.
- Compressor Dehumidifier: It sucks the air from the environment through a filter. After that, the air is transferred to the cold coils, where it condenses, to then escape in the form of drops. This type of dehumidifier is not the most recommended for too low temperatures.
- Desiccant Dehumidifier: This device uses hygroscopic substances, such as silica gel, to absorb air humidity. It has no compressors, which is usually lighter and quieter. The disadvantage is that it tends to consume more energy.
What do Other Lesser-Known Benefits Do Dehumidifiers bring?
If your walls are smooth and you have never had mould problems, you may still enjoy the benefits of a dehumidifier. Sometimes, the humidity is not so obvious, but it causes damage to our environment without us realizing it.
For example, a good dehumidifier can prevent the deterioration of your electronic devices. Another of the lesser-known benefits is the fact that it helps to preserve documents or photos.
In addition, by keeping the air cleaner, the dehumidifier makes air conditioners more effective and consume less energy. And again, a good dehumidifier can reduce skin irritations and improve the way you breathe.
How Can I Calculate the Capacity of The Dehumidifier I Need?
It is easy to understand that each dehumidifier has a certain capacity. The hard part is knowing what the needs of your environment are and which device can meet them.
Take a look at the following table to find out how many litres of water a day you need to store your dehumidifier. It will depend on the humidity percentage of the environment and its size.
Noise Level
Noise is one of the most annoying factors of dehumidifiers. If you have to live with this device daily, you certainly won’t want to have to deal with constant sound. Fortunately, manufacturers keep this in mind. Dehumidifiers are increasingly silent, without affecting their effectiveness.
To measure the noise level of dehumidifiers, decibels are used. If the number of decibels is 40 or less, the device is considered low noise. Compact, low-capacity dehumidifiers are usually quieter, with levels close to 35 decibels.
Unloading Options
Be realistic: how disciplined are you when you use your devices? If it is not a problem for you to empty the water from time to time, opt for a dehumidifier equipped with a tank for this purpose. Check that it can collect as much water as possible so that the device is autonomous.
If having to do this constantly annoys you, choose another type of dehumidifier. A model that allows you to connect to an automatic drain. In this way, you will not have to empty the water or run the risk that the dehumidifier will turn off when you are not there. Those with tanks have the advantage of being more transportable.
Electrical Consumption
One of the most common concerns among potential buyers of dehumidifiers is their electrical consumption. We all want to breathe cleaner air with adequate humidity, but at what price? The good news is that these devices are increasingly energy-efficient.
Check the power and related certifications. A standard dehumidifier works with around 300 watts. Normally, the higher its capacity, the more it consumes.
However, as we explained earlier, a dehumidifier can result in less use of the air conditioner, or of heating. As a result, you will save energy from this point of view. Even more, if you dry your laundry with the help of this device.
Extra Functions
The more sophisticated dehumidifiers have integrated additional functions that you may not even have known existed. For example, some have a special mode for speeding up laundry drying. Others are equipped with liquid crystal displays to facilitate personalized configuration.
Some also have sensors to measure the humidity level of the environment and change the speed as needed. There are dehumidifiers with silver ion systems that filter the air and eliminate bacteria.
It is important to keep in mind that the more functions the dehumidifier has, the higher its price will be. So, define well what your needs are.
Conclusions
Congratulations! By now, you are ready to transform your home. Soon the days will be long gone when you felt frustrated seeing your furniture and walls deteriorate from humidity. With the information you’ve just read, you have all the tools you need to identify the most effective dehumidifiers.
Get to know our favourite devices to fight humidity. Also, you now understand your needs and what capacity your dehumidifier needs to meet them. And you also know how to make it work, once purchased, and how to take care of it.
